New Party (YP) lawmaker Mustafa Sarıgül faces further legal troubles as his son and a family associate have told investigators about alleged corruption and bribery involving the politician. The former mayor of Istanbul’s Şişli district, who founded a political party and served as a lawmaker first for the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and later for the YP, saw his sons and close associates detained last month over allegations of money laundering. Sarıgül left the party last week as the investigation closed in on the lawmaker, who currently retains parliamentary immunity.
His son, Emir Sarıgül, has cooperated with authorities, according to a report by the Sabah newspaper, alleging that his father bribed YP leader Özgür Özel to secure his position. He said his father had handed Özel a total of $350,000 in cash concealed among gift packages.
Emir Sarıgül was one of 24 suspects detained last month as part of an investigation into the Sarıgül family over allegations of money laundering and unexplained wealth. He recently gave an additional statement to prosecutors, detailing the hundreds of thousands of dollars allegedly handed directly to Özel.
"I know that during the establishment of the New Party, $250,000 was left inside a vehicle belonging to Özgür Özel to cover the interior furnishing of the party’s headquarters. The money was handed over outside a restaurant in Ümitköy, Ankara. My father and Özgür Özel had dinner that day with a group of six or seven members of parliament. As they left the restaurant, my father personally placed the $250,000 in the back of Özgür Özel’s vehicle. He told me this himself.
"He also told me that Özel had been given another $100,000 in cash last month. At the time, my father told me that Özgür Özel would be coming to his house in Ankara for dinner. He asked me to buy two scarves from a store. I purchased them and handed them to my father. He then placed $100,000 inside the scarf package at his house in Istanbul. The scarves were placed alongside the money. We then prepared the package as a gift.
"He took the package and drove to Istanbul Airport in his own vehicle. He flew to Ankara, first stopping by Parliament before going to his house in Ümitköy. Özel came over for dinner that evening, and the money was handed to him in person. My father told me about it the following day,” he said.
Özel's name has been repeatedly linked to bribery allegations dating back to his tenure as head of the CHP. Figures close to Özel already face charges of bribing delegates to secure their votes for him in the party's 2023 internal election, which brought him to power. Muhittin Böcek, the former mayor of Antalya who was arrested on corruption charges, has also claimed that he repeatedly delivered cash to Özel in secret to secure his nomination as the CHP's candidate in the 2024 municipal elections.
Cihan Tunç, a family associate who was detained as part of the money-laundering investigation, also detailed the Sarıgül family's alleged shady dealings in his testimony to investigators, according to a report by the Hürriyet newspaper. He alleged that the Sarıgüls had transported gold and diamonds purchased at Istanbul's Grand Bazaar abroad aboard private jets.
Saying he had known Emir Sarıgül for 25 years, Tunç alleged that after Mustafa Sarıgül became mayor of Şişli, he had a private office allocated to his son on the municipality's sixth floor, where Emir began following up on various business matters.
"During the period when many construction projects were underway, Emir Sarıgül would meet with the owners of those projects there. Davut Kaymak served as the municipality's information technology director both during Mustafa Sarıgül's tenure and before it. I had heard from people inside the municipality that this individual altered the dates of tax payments made by citizens and deleted certain records. I suspect these changes may have been related to zoning procedures,” he said, implying that Sarıgül may have received bribes in exchange for zoning permits.
Tunç also claimed that Beşir Ömer Demir, Mustafa Sarıgül's personal bodyguard, was given an apartment in Istanbul in exchange for his silence. Leaked footage allegedly showing the lawmaker and Demir having sex surfaced earlier, although Sarıgül denied its authenticity. Demir was also detained as part of the investigation and admitted that he had been involved in a longstanding sexual relationship with Sarıgül, but said he had been afraid to come forward earlier.